Megaphone.



110,781,137. PATENTED JAN. 31, 1905. T. EMERY, JR. & W. H. ADKINS.MEGAPHONE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 10. 1904.

' Fig. 1:.

UNITED STATES Patented January 31, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

TEMPLE EMERY, JR, AND WILLIAM H. ADKINS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI,

ASSIGNORS TO MIDDLEBY OVEN MANUFACTURING CO, A CORPORA- TION OFILLINOIS.

IVIEGAPHONE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 781,137, dated January31, 1905.

Application filed August 10, 1904. Serial No. 220,252.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, TEMPLE EMERY, J1., and WILLIAM H. ADKINS, citizensof the United States, and residents of St. Louis, State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Megaphones, ofwhich the following is a specification and which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

The object of this invention is to provide a collapsible megaphone whichwhen not in use may be folded to so small a compass that it may becarried in the users pocket.

To this end the invention consists in a megaphone having its side wallscomposed of interfolding panels, so that the instrument will collapse orfold to a flat form.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification,Figure 1 is a perspective of the megaphone. Fig. 2 is a detail end viewof the same when open. Fig. 3 is an end view of the same when closed.Fig. A is an end view showing the megaphone partially closed, its openform being indicated in dotted lines; and Fig. 5 is an end view of ablank which may be used in forming the instrument and showing a modifiedform of construction.

In the preferred form of construction the megaphone has a plurality ofsides, preferably four, as shown, its shape being that of a truncatedpyramid and each of its sides being a trapezoid. When the sides, as 10,11, 12, and 13, are made of separate pieces, they are preferably rigidand may be composed of strawboard, tarboard, celluloid, or any othersuitable material. Such sides are united by any suitable form of hinge,preferably strips of binders cloth cemented to both the outside andinside of the joint.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3, and I, it will be seen that the instrument isfolded by pressing in one of the joints, as 17, until it passes thecentral position and folds in the opposite direction. To accomplish thismovement, the opposite joint, as 16, is necessarily pressed inwardlyuntil the joint 17 reaches and passes beyond the position shown in solidlines in When the instrument is closed, two

of the sides, as 10 and 13, are folded in between the sides 11 and 12,and in order that when so folded the instrument may be compact the twoinner sides are preferably of slightly less width than the two outersides. The joints should be made with reference to ease of fiexure inthe desired direction only. Inasmuch as the joints 1 and 15 are neveropened beyond approximately a right angle, the inner joint-strip may beshorter than the outer one, and the latter should be of suflicientlength to permit the adjacent sides to come into contact without strainupon the joint. Inasmuch as the joint 16 is flexed, so as to spread thesides 11 and 12 beyond the right angle, as shown in Fig. 4, it ispreferably looser or more open than the other joints, and this alsoprovides for the spreading of the two sides somewhat in order to receivethe sides 10 and 13 when the instrument is closed. As the joint 17 mustbe flexed in both directions, it should also be somewhat loose or open.

A cheap form of construction may be provided by not making each of thesides as a separate piece.

In Fig. 5 is shown a blank adapted to be so constructed as to constituteall of the sides of a four-side megaphone. Preferably such blank isscored, as shown at 19, 20, and 21, so that it will more readily bend toform the joints, as 14, 16, and 15, respectively, and it is desirablealso to reinforce the joints by lining them with a strip of fabric, asindicated at 22. 23, and 24. The extreme edges of the blank are broughttogether to constitute the joint corresponding with the joint 17 of Fig.2, and such edges may be permanently secured and hinged together in thesame manner as is indicated at 17.

When the instrument is open for use, it is preferably grasped so as tobring inward pressure upon the joints 14L and 15, and as these jointsare so made that they readily flex to fold together the sides united bythem and do not tend to readily flex in the opposite direction beyondthe position indicated in Fig. 2 such pressure will hold the instrumentin its open form ready for use. It is also obvious that such aninstrument may be changed in cross-sectional form when in useas, forexample, it may be used When in the form indicated in solid lines inFig. 1 and When so used Will tend to condense the sound vertically.

We claim as our invention 1. As an article of manufacture, a megaphonehaving its Walls composed of permanently-joined interfolding panels.

2. As an article of manufacture, a megaphone having its Walls composedof at least four panels hinged together, the hinge uniting one pair ofpanels flexing in both directions.

3. As an article of manufacture, a megaphone having its Walls composedoffour trapezoidal panels hinged together, one pair of oppositely-disposedhinges flexing to fold the sides together only, and one of the hingesintermediate of said pair flexing in both directions.

TEMPLE EMERY, J 1-1. lVlLLlAM H. ADKINS.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR H. HAMILTON, EDWARD BERG, Jr.

